SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING

WE WERE CREATED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. I don’t know of anyone who could have predicted we’d be in this place and time — except of course, God.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not catch Him off guard, and I believe He handpicked each of us for this time and place. Fear is rampant in the world right now — and a lot of people searching for Hope. And you, ministry leader, are in place to let God speak powerfully through you.

The tools I’m sharing should help you focus the message God has put on your heart and help you be effective in your delivery. Basic Terminology for Sharing Online • Hashtag: A hashtag is a # followed by a series of letters and/or numbers. It ends with a space.

A common Christian hashtag is #Faith. When you write a tweet with #Faith in it, then anyone searching for #Faith will see your tweet. Same thing with #Hope, or #GodsLove, or . . . well you get the idea. Hashtags cannot be registered or reserved. But it is important to research a hashtag before using it. You can search for it on Twitter (or whichever network you’re on) and see what kinds of tweets are being shared with that hashtag.

• Meme: A meme is an image with the words embedded in it. Two good places to find free/ copyright free images is www.pixabay.com and www.unsplash.com. NEVER search for images to use through Google images. Those are copyright protected and illegal to use without written permission. Where do I Share?

Social media is the obvious answer, but let’s be more specific.

Facebook is a good place to start because so many of your audience are already there. You can use your personal profile, your ministry or professional page, or a group as you post about hope.

Twitter is another great place to share. Many overlook this platform because the tweets are short. But the use of hashtags enables those short snippets of information to be seen by many more.

Instagram is another good place to share hopefilled updates and use hashtags. Many of the updates on this network are memes or short devotions. Pinterest is an unexpected place to share. Consider beginning a Hope board or something that encourages others.

Beyond these basics, also consider LinkedIn and YouTube. Tips for Creating Videos Many people are sharing Facebook Live videos to encourage others. Build real-time connections through social media. Here are some tips to make your videos the very best.

1. Pay attention to your lighting. It’s frustrating when the person speaking is in shadow or lit by an ugly yellow-tinged light. Natural light is excellent if it’s in front of the speaker. There are also many lowpriced LED light options to be purchased online. 2. Don’t neglect your sound. Do a sound check by running some test videos. Make sure your microphone works well.

3. Stay focused on the camera. When we’re speaking to a group, we normally let our eyes wander around the venue. We try to make eye contact with people in different parts of the room. We cannot do that with a camera. We need to remain naturally focused on the camera. Every person we’re speaking to is at the other end of that focus point.

4. Notice your background. Keep it uncluttered and make certain there aren’t any odd things behind you. I was watching a video once where it looked like a pair of wall sconces were antlers on the head of the person speaking. Background items can be very distracting.

5. Use a script. I always use a script when I’m delivering a talk online. It keeps me focused and helps me pay attention to the last point:

6. Keep it Short. Three minutes is a good short video, but try to keep what you’re going to say to no longer than 30 minutes. God is issuing the call to His church to bring hope to a scared world. Take a step of faith and venture online to tell the world the life-saving Truth.